Side locking seat belt buckle

ABSTRACT

A SAFETY SEAT BELT BUCKLE HAVING A PAIR OF LOCKING MEMBERS WHICH ENGAGE OPPOSITE SIDE EDGES OF A PLATE-LIKE TONGUE TO PREVENT ITS REMOVAL FROM A LATCHED POSITION IN THE BUCKLE. A RELEASE MEMBER ON THE BUCKLE IS CONNECTED TO THE LOCKING MEMBERS SUCH THAT THEY CAN BE MOVED TOWARD RELEASE POSITIONS EITHER BY A MOTION OF THE RELEASE MEMBER, OR BY CONTACT WITH THE TONGUE AS IT IS RECEIVED TOWARD ITS LATCHED POSITION.

T. E. LOHR 3,605,210

2 Sheets-Sheet 1 7 INVENTOR THOMAS E. LOHR" BY 4 M24 4 ,m-

vkvn g s SIDE LOCKING SEAT BELT BUCKLE I IL III I I Sept. 20, 1971 FiledApril 21, 1969 Sept. 20, 1971 LOHR 3,605,210

SIDE LOCKING SEAT BELT BUCKLE Filed April 21, 1969 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR THOMAS E. LOHR always United States Patent SIDE LOCKING SEATBELT BUCKLE Thomas E. Lohr, Warren, Mich., assiguor to Jim Robbins SeatBelt Co., Mount Clemens, Mich.

Filed Apr. 21, 1969, Ser. No. 818,022 Int. Cl. A4411 11/25 U.S. Cl.24--230 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE or by contact with thetongue as it is received toward its latched position.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to safety seat beltbuckles, and more specifically to a buckle assembly having a plate-liketongue which is releasably locked in a buckle housing by a pair ofcooperating locking members that engage the side edges of the tongue.

Considerable effort has been directed by seat belt buckle manufacturerstoward providing a buckle configuration that is thinner and narrowerthan current commercially available buckles. A significant sizereduction of commercial buckles is limited by the space within thebuckle housing that is necessary to accommodate the motion of thelocking mechanism. This is because conventional locking mechanismsgenerally employ one or more members having a component of motion thatis perpendicular to the buckle base.

One method for reducing overall buckle thickness is to provide a lockingmember that is movable only in directions parallel to the buckle basethereby eliminating the necessity for space within the buckle housing toaccommodate perpendicular motion of these members. Buckles having such alocking member although not necessarily for the purpose of compactness,have been disclosed in US. Pat. No. 3,262,169 to G. Jantzen and US. Pat.No. 3,311,188 to J. G. Tutshall. Another buckle component having amotion that must also be considered is that of the release member. Inorder to satisfy certain safety criteria, the release member must be ina protected position so that it cannot be easily accidentally actuatedand this is usually connected to the locking member and is movable torelease the locking member. The housing must not only accommodate thismovement but for safety reasons, to reduce the possibility of therelease member being accidentally actuated, it must be in a protected orrecessed position adding to the required thickness of the housing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The broad purpose of the present invention isto provide a seat belt buckle assembly having a locking member and arelease member both of which are only movable parallel to the base ofthe buckle housing. In the preferred embodiment of the presentinvention, the preferred buckle has a flat base, a pair of cooperatinglocking members that are pivotal parallel to the base between releaseand locking positions, and a release member which is also movableparallel to the base. Because none of the movable buckle elements has acomponent of motion that is perpendicular to the base, the bucklehousing can be formed with a relatively flat configuration. By mountingthe release member such that it is movable parallel to the base, itsconnection to the locking members provides a mechan- 3,605,210 PatentedSept. 20, 1971 ical advantage that allows the user to easily release thetongue from its latched position. The release member is connected to thelocking member in a manner that allows the locking member to be movedtoward its release position by the tongue as it is received by thebuckle. The user, therefore, does not have to manipulate the releasemember in order to insert the tongue to its latched position.

The preferred buckle has an overall Width that is less than threeinches, a length that is less than two inches, and a thickness of onlyabout of an inch. In addition to its compact, flat configuration stillfurther advantages of the present invention will become readily apparentto those skilled in the art to which the invention pertains uponreference to the following detailed description.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The description refers to the accompanyingdrawings in which like reference characters refer to like partsthroughout the several views, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a buckle assembly illustrating thepreferred embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the components of the preferredbuckle in exploded relationship;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the preferred buckle showing the manner inwhich the locking members engage the side edges of the tongue;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along lines 4-4 of FIG. 3 with thecover removed and showing the release member in its position in whichthe locking members are in their locking positions; and

FIG. 5 is a View similar to FIG. 4, but showing the release member inits position in which the locking members are in their releasepositions.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Now referring to the drawings, apreferred seat belt buckle comprises a buckle housing 10' carried on theend of a vehicle safety seat belt 12, and a tongue 14 which is carriedon the end of a vehicle safety seat belt 16. The tongue 14 and thebuckle housing 10 cooperate to form a releasable connection between thebelts 12 and 16.

As best illustrated in FIG. 2, the buckle housing 10 comprises a shell18 of a metal stamping which is bent to form a planar base 20, a pair ofsides 22 and 24 which extend normally with respect to the base 20, and apair of opposed flanges 2'6 and 28 which are parallel to the base 20.The base 20 extends beyond one end of the sides 22 and 24 and isprovided with a slot 30 for receiving the looped end of the belt 12.

The base 20 has an elongated ridge 32 raised toward the flanges 26 and28 and perpendicular to sides 22 and 24. A second ridge 34, which isparallel to the ridge 32 but shorter, is also formed in the base 20. Theflanges 2 6 and 28 have short ridges 36 which are parallel to the ridge32, and a pair of short ridges 38 which are parallel to the ridge 34.The ridges 32 and 34 form a slidable contact with one face of the tongue14 as it is received into the shell 18, and the ridges 36 and 38 form aslidable contact with the opposite face of the tongue 14. Preferably, asbest shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the distance between the ridges 32 and 34in the base and the ridges 36 and 38 in the flanges prevent motion ofthe tongue normal to the base 20 when it is disposed in the shell 18.

A pair of locking members 40 and 42 are supported in the shell 18 byrivets 44 and 46 which depend from flanges 26 and 28, respectively. Bothlocking members are movable parallel to the base 20 between a closedposition, illustrated in FIG. 3, in which an ear 48 on each lockingmember is engaged With the tongue 14 to prevent its removal 3 from theshell 18 and a position in which the ears 48 are pivoted toward thesides 22 and 24 of the shell to allow passage of the tongue 14 betweenthem. A spring 50 is connected between the locking members 40 and 42 tobias them toward the closed position.

Referring to FIG. 2, a cover 52 is mounted on the flanges 26 and 28. Aretainer 54 has a central opening 56 for receiving the cover, a pair oftabs 58 which snap into openings 60 in the sidewalls of the shell 18,and a pair of tabs 62 that snap into a second pair of openings 64 in thesides of the shell in order to lock the cover 52 on the shell. A releasemember 64 is slidably mounted on the flages 26 and 28 within the cover52. A button 66 carried by the release member 64 extends through anelongated opening 68 in the cover so as to be accessible.

The release member 64 has two depending lugs 70 and 72 which extendbetween the flanges 26 and 28 into elongated angularly extendingopenings 74 and 76 of the locking members 42 and 40, respectively.Normally, when the locking members are in their closed positions, therelease member 64 is in the position illustrated in FIG. 4. By movingthe release member 64 from the position shown in FIG. 4 toward anupturned tab 78 formed in the base 20, as shown in FIG. 5, the lugs 70and 72 acting upon the sides of the slots 76 cam the locking memberstoward their open positions. Releasing the release member 64, permitsthe spring 50 to return the locking members toward their closedposition, and the release member toward a position in which it is inabutment with the flanges 26 and 28.

As best illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 3, the tongue 14 is formed of metalplate with a slot 79 for receiving the looped end of belt 16. The tongue14 also has a slot 80 which extends perpendicular to the slot 79 andopens to the tongues leading edge. The leading edge of the tongue, thatis the portion that is initially received into the buckle housing, isnarrowed and formed with a pair of ears 82 and 84 that extend laterallywith respect to the slot 80. The tongue 14 also has a pair of shoulders86 and 88 on its side edges.

Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, the cover 52 has a tab 90 that extendsbetween the flanges 26 and 28 of the shell to a position closelyadjacent the base to receive the slot 80 of the tongue. As the tongue 14is received into the shell 18, the tab 90 guides the tongue towards itslatched position in which it is disposed parallel to the planar base 20.As the tongue is received by the shell, the ears 82 and 84 contact theears 48 to cam the two locking members toward their open position topermit insertion of the tongue therebetween. As the ears 82 and 84 movepast the ears 48 the locking members then are returned toward theirclosed position with the ears 48 moving behind the ears 82 and 84 of thetongue to prevent it from being removed from the housing.

As the tongue is received into the shell 18, the shoulders 86 and 88engage the sides 22 and 24 to limit the tongues motion into the shell,as well as to limit any lateral displacement of the tongue from itslatched position.

Referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the tongue slidably engages the ridges 32,34, 36 and 38 as it is received into the shell. The ridges, therefore,locate the tongue for the locking members 40 and 42, prevent the tonguefrom being moved perpendicular to the base, and also reduce the surfacearea of the shell that is in contact with the tongue.

Thus, it is to be understood that I have described in detail a novelseat belt buckle assembly in which both the locking and the releasemembers are movable parallel to the base of the buckle housing therebyallowing the buckle to have a thin, compact configuration. In addition,the release member has a minimum area that is exposed for accidentalrelease while still providing a movement that allows the tongue to beeasily released from the buckle housing.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A buckle assembly comprising; a buckle housing having an opening, atongue provided with two outwardly extending ears affixed thereto, pairof longitudinally immovable locking members rotatably supported withinsaid housing toward and away from each other for movement between alocking position and a release position, said locking members providedwith inwardly extending ears for engagement about the ears of saidtongue whereby said locking members enclose the ears of said tongue andretain said tongue within said housing in the locking position and beingoperable to allow the tongue to be removed from said housing when insaid release position, a release member movably supported on saidhousing for movement in the direction in which the tongue is insertedinto said housing through said opening, a pin and slot meansinterconnecting each of said locking members and said release member formoving said locking members from said locking position to said releaseposition, each pin and slot means including an elongated slot having alongitudinal axis disposed at an acute angle to said direction in whichthe tongue is inserted into said housing through said opening so thatsaid locking members are moved generally laterally of said directionupon movement of said release member.

2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 including biasing meansinterconnecting said locking members for urging said locking memberstoward said locking position.

3. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 including guide means in saidhousing for guiding the tongue into said housing in said direction.

4. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein each of said lockingmembers has one of said slots therein and one of said pins extends fromsaid release member through each slot, said slots being disposed so thattheir longitudinal axes cross one another.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,294,444 12/1966 Anderson24-230.1TUX 3,475,797 11/1969 Rau 24230.1U(UX) 2,856,665 10/1958Gimalouski 24230.1TUX 2,867,024 l/l959 Sepe 24-211MUX 3,217,373 11/1965Bohlin 24-230.1MUX 3,262,169 7/1966 Jantzen 24230.1TUX

FOREIGN PATENTS 1,162,639 9/1958 France 24230.1T

BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner

